Looking for a 2.5d engine

[OldRod]

Finally got some free time after a hellish stretch of working waaaayyy too much. Want to try to start up another never-to-be-finished game project

Need some opinions on the best free engine currently available for a single-player 2.5d (isometric) browser game? Looking at making a civilization/resource management type game, mixed with some strategy elements

I have an account on the IDEA system, but it seems a bit massive for what I want to do with this project - kind of like using a crane to crush a fly. (Had to sneak in a Flaming Lips reference )

[hallsofvallhalla]

you are extremely limited.

Technically any 2d engine could produce a 2.5 style game. An engine like Netgore could handle it but you will need some C# skills.

edit: oops seen you wanted browser based

May want to look into unity as well. There are a ton of things wrong with Unity but it is one of the best options out there sadly enough. Lunchbox from MMORPGmaker forums is making a RTS with unity. You should contact him and he will show it to you. Quite awesome so far.

My 2.5D browser RPG might be converted to RTS easily but needs allot of code added.

[OldRod]

Can Unity do isometric?

I'll take another look at it... thanks!

[SpiritWebb]

Unity can do isometric, top down, FPS or 3rd person 3D...

[Jackolantern]

Have you seen The Isogenic Engine? It is an HTML5-based isometric MMO engine that is coming out soon. It looks right up the alley of what you are looking for. The only downside is that it isn't actually out yet, but it is in beta. I am also not sure what price range it is going to be in. It could actually be a AAA engine, but if it is, I don't know why they would be talking about the beta on their website. Most AAA engines tend to keep their betas internal, or at the most, quietly reserved to a few serious and funded participants.

EDIT: Actually, after looking more through their website, I realize a lot of new stuff has been added. They added an isometric art asset store, which means the engine is almost certainly aimed at the hobbyist/indie sphere, which could be a major boon for us.

[hallsofvallhalla]

wow very nice! Haven't seen that one before.

[SpiritWebb]

Have you seen The Isogenic Engine? It is an HTML5-based isometric MMO engine that is coming out soon. It looks right up the alley of what you are looking for. The only downside is that it isn't actually out yet, but it is in beta. I am also not sure what price range it is going to be in. It could actually be a AAA engine, but if it is, I don't know why they would be talking about the beta on their website. Most AAA engines tend to keep their betas internal, or at the most, quietly reserved to a few serious and funded participants.

EDIT: Actually, after looking more through their website, I realize a lot of new stuff has been added. They added an isometric art asset store, which means the engine is almost certainly aimed at the hobbyist/indie sphere, which could be a major boon for us.

Here is the link for the pricing of this thing:
http://www.isogenicengine.com/about/price-sheet/

[Jackolantern]

Oh snap! Thanks, I actually have seen that page lol I got this one mixed up with Rocket Engine, another HTML5 MMO engine, that has been rather quiet about their price and looks very much like a AAA engine from their website. I now remember seeing some blog that Isogenic Engine is only beta'ing the Professional Engine at this time, not the Premium. And I also seem to remember that if you sign up for the beta you can pay a reduced fee for the Professional edition.

EDIT: Ok, that was the plan, but there is an update on their site that as of July 19, they are selling no more beta licenses until they get a restructuring of the license complete. Not sure if that restructuring is a good thing or a bad thing. A lot of times that means investors or other purse holders are worried about the product's ability to make a profit back and the price may increase

[OldRod]

Thanks for the links, I will check those out.

I think I had run across the isogenic engine before, but it's been a while and things have changed since I last saw it.

I spent a lot of time last night digging around in the Unity forums and looking at video tutorials for Unity3. Looks like I can make it do what I want if all else fails.

[Jackolantern]

I would definitely check out Isogenic Engine first, since it works completely plugin-free. Even though I know several plugin-based technologies, I will be the first to admit they can be a huge barrier to entry, particularly ones with such a small install base as Unity. It also rules out players playing it on mobile devices, whereas by the end of the year, all 3 major mobile OSs will be able to run HTML5 content.